Sukkot
by QueenRiley
Summary: Bridge tries to celebrate at least one day of Sukkot. He gets a little help from an unexpected source. Part four in the Holiday series.


Syd had looked nearly everywhere, asked nearly everyone she came across, and she was about ready to give up. Usually Bridge was easy to find, but for some reason he was hiding and nobody knew where he was. He had mail and Bridge almost never got mail. She was supposed to give it directly to him, but if she couldn't find him, surely it wouldn't matter if she just left it in his quarters, right? Boom walked past her muttering, and she vowed he'd be the last person she bothered.

"Boom! Hey, wait!" He stopped and turned, looking a little lost and bewildered. She trotted over to him and smiled. "Have you seen Bridge?" she asked.

"Bridge? He was dragging some pieces of wood up to the roof earlier. He's probably still up there," he answered. She furrowed her brow.

"The roof? Why is he on the roof?" She'd meant it to be rhetorical, but he answered anyway.

"I don't know. You'd have to ask him." Boom turned and walked off and Syd sighed. Well, now that she knew where he was, she had no choice but to trudge up the stairs and find him on the roof. Of all places to be. She hated it up there. It was dirty and smelly and loud.

She found him easily enough. He was puttering around a small structure made out of old wooden latticework. It looked almost like a kid's play fort. He hadn't noticed her, too busy tying the pieces together with some rope. She shivered a little with the bite of the wind, watching as he put the finishing touches on the construction. He stood back and surveyed his work and she smiled. It was a pitiful little fort, really. It was small, not enough room to stand in, and she thought maybe two people could sit in it, but no more. She was pretty sure it was only standing upright because it was leaning against one of the condenser units. He seemed proud though, so she was happy for him.

"Bridge? You got some mail," she called out, finally drawing his attention.

"Oh, hey Syd!" he beamed at her. "Do you like my sukkah?" he asked, gesturing towards his fort. She was really confused now. She expected Bridge to be weird enough to build a little fort on the roof in the middle of fall, but now it sounded like he was speaking gibberish. She wasn't sure she really wanted to know, but she couldn't help but ask.

"Your what?"

"My sukkah. It's a temporary hut we build on Sukkot to symbolize the huts we lived in when we wandered the dessert for 40 years." She was still lost.

"Sue what?"

"Sukkot. It's a holiday. And we build these huts and we're supposed to live in them. But I don't like sleeping on the ground. Or outside really. So I just eat in mine." He seemed so happy, but he hadn't made things any clearer to her.

"Is this we as in 'Bridge and his weird family' we or some other… we?"

"It's a Jewish we. And wait, my family is weird?" he asked, pouting. She sighed and pinched her nose. He didn't seem to notice and continued. "Anyway, I found this old latticework down in the junkyard and Cruger said I could set it up, but only for a day. It's supposed to be up for a week, but it's not exactly kosher anyway since it's on the roof because Cruger said I couldn't have any of the yard and technically it's supposed to be on the ground, so I guess one day is better than none, right? And I don't have an etrog. Maybe a lemon? They're both citrus. Oh but I don't have the lulav either. I wonder if I can raid one of the palm trees… that might work, one out of three." He wasn't speaking to her anymore and her head was swimming.

"You have mail," she interrupted, unable to take his rambling non-explanation any longer. She was more confused now than when he started. She held out the envelope and he took it excitedly, like a little boy getting an unexpected present. He looked at the return address and shoved it inside his jacket, unopened. Well that was a wasted effort. She rolled her eyes and turned to leave while he studied his poorly constructed whatever he called it when his mumbling stopped her dead in her tracks.

"Now if I just knew how to decorate it." He let his voice trail off.

"Decorate? You… you have to decorate it?" she asked. He nodded.

"We're supposed to use harvest vegetables and stuff because Sukkot coincides with the harvest, but we have a constant harvest here because of the temperate climate, and I don't have any vegetables. But I should decorate it with something." He was rambling again, but she didn't stop him this time. A wicked smile crossed her features and she backed up, quickly making her way down the stairs to her room. She may not know anything about his weird traditions, but she did know how to decorate. And Bridge could use all the help he could get.

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She returned to the roof a half hour later with a box in her hands, but Bridge was nowhere to be found. She put the box down inside the little hut and sat down, surveying the walls and roof. Being latticework, there were holes everywhere. She could use that to her advantage though. She opened the box and sorted out all she had dragged up from her room. There were scarves and beaded necklaces and a whole bunch of ribbon. Most of it was pink, but this was for Bridge. He wouldn't care about the colour.

She started weaving the scarves through the holes, in and out, up and down the walls. She tried to vary the colours, but she only had so many scarves. She looped the necklaces through the spaces in the roof, leaving the ends dangling down like a gaudy chandelier. She was just tying some of the ribbons into bows when Bridge burst through the roof access door. He had a large palm frond in his hand, as well as a twig from a willow tree and several colourful leaves. He stared at her quizzically.

"What?" she asked.

"You decorated my sukkah."

"You needed help. And I know how to decorate."

"Thanks, Syd." His smile was wide and genuine, and she couldn't help but return it. He sat down next to her and handed over his pile of leaves, though he kept the palm and willow. He set them aside, standing them up in the back corner. They used the scarves and ribbon bows to hold the leaves in place and within a matter of minutes, they had one decorated sukkah. She was amazed. They'd turned one pitiful little wooden structure into a beautiful little hut.

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She waited in the sukkah for him. The sun was starting to go down and the wind was picking up with a distinct chill, but she'd agreed to eat dinner with him up here and he'd seemed so happy to share his holiday, she wouldn't leave now. He returned, balancing two plates full of food from the cafeteria in his hands. He handed them both to her and then crawled in, taking one back once he was settled. It was a little cramped with the both of them, but the food was hot and his body was warm next to hers.

They ate in silence, just enjoying the company. When she was done, plate sitting precariously on her crossed legs, she looked over at Bridge. He was quiet, lost in thought, but the corners of his mouth pulled up in a small smile. She liked to see him happy. Maybe she didn't understand him, but for better or worse, they were friends.

"Is it okay to say have a happy holiday, Bridge?" she asked. He swallowed hard and laughed.

"You could. Chag sameach is Hebrew, or my bubbe speaks Yiddish sometimes and she says gut yontif. Any of them work."

"Your bubbe?" She knew it wasn't actually gibberish, but it sounded like it to her ears.

"My grandmother. She sent me a card," he said, pulling out the mail she had hunted him down to deliver. He handed it to her and she pulled the card out of the envelope. It had a drawing of several small structures very similar to the one they were sitting in now. There was a lengthy message inside and she didn't read it, feeling it was an invasion of privacy, but she was struck by the beautiful handwriting. One side was in English, the precise curves of old fashioned cursive. The other side of the card, though, had unfamiliar symbols. He saw her fingering the symbols and she heard him chuckle.

"It's Hebrew. She wishes I could speak it better so she always writes her notes once in English and once in Hebrew. Hasn't worked yet." She handed the card back and smiled at him. He slipped it back into his jacket.

"Well, thanks for sharing with me, anyway." She nudged him with her shoulder and he laughed again, light and easy.

"Holidays are meant to be shared, Syd. Thanks for helping me." She smiled. She still didn't understand him or his holiday, but it had been a nice way to spend an afternoon. Maybe she'd ask to help him again next year.


End file.
